Wentworth keeps Van de Putte in Austin

That’s the headline I might have written if I worked for certain other news organizations. A bit hyperbolic, yes, and yet, state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, did feel a bit constrained today, thanks to her fellow San Antonian, Republican state Sen. Jeff Wentworth.

Because she was afraid Wentworth would bring up his campus guns bill while she and her fellow Democrats were away, she was unable to greet First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, when they visited Brooke Army Medical Center to meet with wounded soldiers and their families. San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro filled in for her.

What was particularly galling, Van de Putte said, was that she was the one who had issued the invitation. “It’s not like, oh, she’s just coming for a little social thing and you’re just gonna show up,” she said, shortly after the Senate recessed this afternoon. “That was bull. It was my invitation to have her come to San Antonio. . . .”

She said she asked Wentworth for consideration but was denied. “Then it was my choice whether to go. I chose not to,” she said.